Anam Chara -- a home for the elderly that helped residents through aging and death -- has closed its Quince Avenue location, and while the state health department filed two complaints against the facility as recently as May, officials said the decision to close was purely financial.

Officials with the assisted living center -- which in 2009 was the subject of a scathing 86-page deficiency report from the state -- cited a lack of financial resources and manpower in closing the 1795 Quince Ave. facility on June 1. This past weekend, they held an estate sale and put the house up for sale.

Founder Peggy Quinn said that since the home opened in 1985, more than 150 residents have had "death passages."

"It was sad. You get really connected to it," Quinn said of the home.

Nick Mac Murray, Anam Chara's executive director, said the home was a "sacred space" for those who worked there.

"It kind of felt like a death passage of its own," Mac Murray said. "It was sad to let go of that physical space."

But while the house is up for sale, Quinn said she is holding out hope the program will be able to return even once the seven-bedroom home is under new ownership.

Quinn said because the house already has had work done to make it compatible for use as an assisted-living facility and has an abundance of resources nearby in north Boulder, it remains the ideal spot for Anam Chara to re-open at.

"Our mission isn't owning buildings," she said. "Our hope is that we would be there again."

Mac Murray said the organization has been in talks with some of the groups looking into purchasing the property about moving back in, but right now it is too early to know exactly how likely that scenario is. He said Anam Chara also could try a different location if center isn't able to move back into the Quince home.

"We're optimistic for that, but we plan to continue regardless," Mac Murray said.

'Injury was an unfortunate mistake'

When and if Anam Chara does open a new house, the facility likely will have to address two deficiency complaints filed against it by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in early May.

The first complaint was for neglect resulting in injury after a resident suffered extensive injuries to her foot after being left unattended while soaking in hot water. According to the report, a resident with a lack of sensation in her feet was given a tub of hot water from an electric teapot to soak her feet in and then left unsupervised by the employee.

When the employee returned, the hot water had caused the skin on the resident's foot to peel off "like a glove or a sock," and the resident suffered scalding water burns and the amputation of four toes.

The second complaint states Quinn violated the terms of Anam Chara's conditional licensing agreement when she had a meeting with an administrator to discuss anger management classes after residents had been complaining. Per the conditional license agreement reached in 2010, Quinn "shall not be directly or indirectly involved whatsoever in any aspect of day-to-day facility operations," except in her role as a board voting member.

Because Anam Chara officials already had decided to close when the complaints came in, Mac Murray said they do not need to be addressed until a new home is opened.

"It's hard to have a plan of correction when the home wouldn't be operating," Mac Murray said. "If we were to open another home, the condition would reapply."

He did add that the employee accused of neglect already had planned on leaving, and that the injury was an unfortunate mistake.

"It's a very sad thing. They were probably one of the better caregivers we've ever had," Mac Murray said. "It was a moment of oversight on their part resulting in a very serious injury."

Quinn would not comment on the complaints except to say that the state never took away Anam Chara's license and that the new complaints had nothing to do with the closure.

'We want to join the conversation'

But this isn't the first time Anam Chara has had complaints from the state health department.

In 2009, the state issued an 86-page report on Anam Chara that contained accusations of withholding Western medicine, food and water, and failing to report a suspected suicide. Anam Chara reached a compliance agreement with the state and the condition of Quinn not being involved in day-to-day operations was added shortly after that.

But Mac Murray said he did not think the complaints would stop Anam Chara from re-opening a house.

"I think they like what Anam Chara represents, because if there was no value in our care, they wouldn't have given us a license to operate at all," Mac Murray said. "Are there some philosophical differences between us on what's important in caring for a person? Yes. But it was not at all contentious. They set the rules."

Quinn and Mac Murray said that even though Anam Chara doesn't have a home at the moment, its workers and directors will continue to spread the word about their holistic approach to helping people in their last days.

"Aging and dying is different with people living a lot longer," Mac Murray said. "There is a movement for aging and dying naturally, and we want to join the conversation that is taking place."

Added Quinn: "There are so many people in the Boulder community who have experienced the service we had. But it's nothing compared to the hundreds of families who have experienced aging and dying in the community."

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